Reasons To Enjoy Watching Melo Movie
Reasons To Enjoy Heavenly Ever After
Mild spoilers from episode 1 to 6!
The highlight main trailer can be viewed on YouTube!
“Heavenly Ever After” is a transcendent romance starring Kim Hye Ja as Lee Hae Sook, a woman who reunites with her husband in heaven after death. Unlike the other residents of heaven—including her husband Go Nak Joon (Son Suk Ku), who has chosen to return to the 30-something version of himself—Lee Hae Sook makes the unusual choice to keep her 80-something appearance.
In “Heavenly Ever After,” Lee Hae Sook was once a soft-hearted and emotional young woman, but losing her husband in an accident, she was forced to toughen up after suddenly becoming the head of the household. By the time she has reached her eighties, Lee Hae Sook is a battle-hardened fighter who has survived all sorts of hardships and financial struggles.
However, when Lee Hae Sook arrives in heaven, her world-weary gaze is nowhere to be found. Lee Hae Sook, who had imagined heaven but had never been certain whether it truly existed, is visibly ecstatic and overwhelmed to find herself in this idyllic afterlife. As she holds a “Heaven User Manual,” Lee Hae Sook is beaming with a sunny smile that contrasts starkly with how she looked on Earth. 
Finally, when Lee Hae Sook is finally reunited with her beloved husband, she seems to have transformed into a smitten young girl again: as she excitedly chatters away while clutching her heart with both hands, it’s clear how overjoyed she is at seeing him for the first time in years, but still unaware of the situations and trials that await her, even in this seemingly blissful place
.Lee Hae Sook arrives in heaven appearing as she did at her current age, only to reunite with her husband, who has returned to his 30s. In this dynamic journey of adapting to heaven, she experiences emotions and situations she never encountered in her 80 years of life. The poignant phrase, “Good connections, bad connections, all those connections make up my life,” conveys Hae Sook’s profound insight on the relationships, life and after death as well.
Go Nak Joon (Son Suk Ku), who has long awaited the reunion with his wife, is filled with affection for Hae Sook. His tender gaze and warm smile are accompanied by the phrase, “I’m so glad to have you by my side,” making viewers’ hearts flutter. Hae-sook’s apprehensions vanish as she enters the yard to see her beloved again, but the man who exits the door is a much younger version of Nak-jun. Adding insult to injury, he doesn’t instantly recognize her and then gasps as the realization hits him. Hae-sook curses under her breath, and a purple grape falls from the sky, unbeknownst to either of them. After getting over the initial shock, Nak-jun excitedly takes Hae-sook’s hand and shows her that he can run now. He even offers to give her a piggyback ride, and while he thinks they look like a cute couple, her inner monologue calls them a mother and son pairing. Upset over her age and the fact that Nak-jun doesn’t even remember calling her beautiful, Hae-sook thinks she came to heaven by mistake since everything “good” about this place only makes her feel uncomfortable and misplaced. 
After a while, Hae-sook comforts her husband, telling him that she doesn’t regret a thing since she married him for his looks, and he chuckles at her joke. As they finally hug for the first time since their deaths, Hae-sook tears up and says that she really is in heaven.
Soon in the picture enters a unknown woman: Han Ji Min takes on the role of So Mi, a mysterious woman who suddenly appears in heaven. Having lost all memories of who she is and where she came from, she finds her way to Hae Sook and Nak Joon, eventually ending up living under the same roof with them. Her line, “I’m scared to know what’s at the end of these memories,” raises curiosity—whether it is simply vague anxiety or if there's a hidden side of it.
He wants her to be happy for her own sake and not for anyone else, but his sweet words take on a different meaning when they find a strange woman waiting for him at their house. Hae-sook feels threatened by the young woman clinging to her husband, and his explanation of their relationship only worsens her mood. (She caught his eye while he rode the subway for work, and without thinking, he stopped her from going to hell.) As her opinion of Nak-jun and heaven, in general, reaches rock bottom, Hae-sook finds four grapes in the yard containing clips of her “misdeeds.” Her husband giddily explains their purpose – a tracking system to punish the undeserving – and he finally gasps when he realizes that his wife might end up in hell if she receives two more grapes.
Thus, our non-believing heroine ends up attending church services and the pastor is more than a little disappointed that his only congregation member is an old lady with four grapes. They immediately bicker over the silliest questions, and Hae-sook falls asleep in the pews after the pastor finishes the first sentence in his dry sermon.[Meanwhile, Ryu Deok Hwan takes on the role of the “Pastor,” who is said to be the most idle person in heaven, where repentance is unnecessary. Whenever he encounters the formidable believer Hae Sook, the two bicker endlessly, leaving one to wonder if they are neighbors or rivals. Yet, over time, they gradually close the emotional distance between them. The pastor’s confession, “Every time you come, I look forward to seeing what we’ll do together this time,” reveals the joy and curiosity he feels while waiting for Hae Sook’s visit.]
After an exasperating day at church, Hae-sook comes home expecting some peace only to learn that the strange woman is still here. Nak-jun even named her Som-yi (like cotton because she’s pure), and Hae-sook is fed up with feeling like an idiot. She tells her husband that he clearly no longer needs her and that it was selfish of her to think that he should match her current lifestyle out of obligation. The center president intervenes. He lets the rules slide this once for Hae-sook and helps her find her mom who is living in a past heaven. Watching over her, the president lights the way as she boards a bus and then walks through a field to a small house on a hill.
Hae-sook instantly recognizes the young woman stepping out of the house, and as she calls her mom, the other person tears up, too, in recognition. She dotes on her little girl, making her food and a place to stay for the night, but when they get down for bed, her mom tells her a story about the past. When she was married, her husband brought home a new woman who soon gave birth to a girl. In the morning, Hae-sook recalls her mom’s tale about fate being stronger than blood, so when she sees Nak-jun waiting in the yard to pick her up, she gives him another chance. While Hae-sook was out, Nak-jun went to work delivering the messages of the living to the dead and crossed paths with the center president who reminded him of why he chose this profession in the first place. During the year between their deaths, Nak-jun watched over Hae-sook whenever he was in the living world to pick up letters, and the president’s gentle nudge made him realize that all he ever wanted was his wife.
After some time has passed, both sides are caught in a standstill, Nak-jun arrives with a message for the runaway. He holds out a scarf that the wife wanted to pass along to him and convinces the other man to go back to hell, secretly letting him know that his wife is in heaven. Thanks to Nak-jun’s kindness, the man leaves of his own volition, and Hae-sook returns home with her husband safe and sound.
As a notable, yet important character Chun Ho Jin’s presence as the director of Heaven Support Center, dressed impeccably in an all-white shirt, vest, and tie, is very impressive. The director is a “godfather-like” figure who knows almost everything that happens in heaven. With his gentle charisma, he guides the residents of heaven, keeping a particularly close eye on the noteworthy Hae Sook. His personality is firm and strong much like this explanation, “Heaven isn’t a place where you live forever; it’s just a place where you stay,” piques curiosity about the unfamiliar world of heaven.
After a stroll, on her way home, Hae-sook stops by a vending machine to buy Som-yi a drink and shows her how good deeds are used as currency here. Unfortunately, Hae-sook is all out of money now, and when she angrily smacks the machine with a rock demanding her drink, her last grape falls from the sky. Storm clouds, blaring sirens, and a ramshackle train announce her divine punishment, and though Nak-jun comes running to save her, it’s too late. Hae-sook is carted off to hell, and unlike heaven where everyone gets to choose their age, here, people stay as they are. King Yeomra – who looks identical to the center president – waltzes in with an ominous greeting, and the crowd silences when a worker puts a disruptor in his place by slicing his legs and mouth.
Wrapping this beautiful article with a long lasting impression quote: "If you're wondering where God is, just take a look around you, The God in charge of life and death, the one who causes us to experience, the sadness, joy and anger washing over our lives in tandem...This God could be someone you've already met or perhaps someone in your future that you are still destined to meet someday."
The official soundtrack is now on Spotify with instrumental songs included!
Just click on the album and enjoy!
What is your view on this beautiful drama?
Have you seen Heavenly Ever After already?
Source: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]. Gifs images and photos from Japan were found on Tumblr, pic 1, pic 2 and pic 3.
